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Blalock, Zobrist share AL weekly honors

Blalock, Zobrist share weekly honors

The Tampa Bay Rays had a historic week in clinching the first division title in franchise history and infielder Ben Zobrist helped them finish with a flourish.

The Texas Rangers aren't going to the playoffs, but they did set a Major League record for most doubles in a season, and Hank Blalock delivered the historic record-breaking hit.

Both players had an outstanding week, and they have been named the Bank of America Presents the American League Co-Players of the Week for the period ending Sunday, the final week of the 2008 regular season.

Zobrist finished off his great week by hitting a game-winning home run in the top of the 11th inning in an 8-7 victory over the Tigers at Comerica Park. During the four-game series against the Tigers, Zobrist went 7-for-15 with four home runs, five runs, and seven RBIs.

"I like playing here, I guess; I see the ball good," Zobrist said. "You know it's a great-looking stadium, I love playing in it. It's just nice to come out with a win. I wouldn't have felt good with four losses to finish the year. But I think now that we came out of here with a win, it's going to feel good going into Thursday."

For the week, Zobrist hit .455 (10-22), with a double, a triple, four home runs and seven RBIs. The 28-year-old posted four multihit games en route to a 1.136 slugging percentage along with a .500 on-base percentage.

Zobrist was 3-for-7 with three runs scored during a doubleheader at Baltimore on Tuesday. He went 2-for-4 with two home runs, two runs scored and four RBIs at Detroit on Thursday. This marks the first career weekly award for Zobrist and Blalock.

Blalock hit .400 (10-22) with three doubles, four home runs and nine RBIs last week, and hit a home run in five straight games from Sept. 21 through Friday. During a three-game series against Oakland, Blalock went 7-for-12 with three home runs and seven RBIs.

"My job is to be a run producer, and I'm just trying to go up there with a good approach and have good at-bats," Blalock said at the height of his homer streak.

On Saturday night, he hit a double off the Angels' Ervin Santana in the third inning that gave the Rangers 374 doubles on the season, a Major League record.